The Skater Squat is one of my favorite pure single leg movements. It’s a great way to build both strength and stability in multiple planes that is very similar to the joint angles that we see in hockey. We program a little more Trap Bar Deadlift early in the in-season period before we transition into … Continue reading Why and When We Program Skater Squats

Deadbugs are one of my favorite anti-extension core exercises and are far more functional then something like a traditional crunch as they require you to stabilize the core while the arms and legs are moving...kind of like sport and life. This is one of our more advanced variations where we are using a Kettlebell to … Continue reading Are Deadbugs Part of Your Core Training?

One of the biggest issues I see with 1DB or 1KB Overhead Pressing is that athletes have the tendency to lean back and extend through the lumbar spine. Using the half roller seems to help create more tension throughout the core which limits the ability to extend through the spine. Give it a try and … Continue reading Exercises You Should Try: Kettlebell Overhead Press with Foam Roller

Don’t look at a hotel gym as a reason or an excuse not to train, look at it as an opportunity to think outside the box and do something you normally wouldn’t do or use equipment you don’t typically use. Like most hotel gyms it was extremely limited in both space and equipment with weights … Continue reading Hotel Training

One thing we know: adults lose power at a quicker rate then they do strength, making training power extremely important as we age. The issue is that most adults don’t move as well as they once did, with wear and tear and cranky joints. Because of this, joint friendly power work is a must. We … Continue reading Training Power with Adults

Happy Monday! Like every other Monday, here are a few thoughts bouncing around in my head after a week of reading, podcasts, cruising social media and any other continuing ed. Enjoy! 1. I think as strength coaches our goal should be to get athletes as strong as they need to be to perform well in … Continue reading Monday Musings

Happy Sunday! Just like every other Sunday, we have another group of podcasts and articles to read and listen to that I have dived into. Like every other week, there was a ton of content out there both in written form and through podcasts. Enjoy! Podcasts of the Week https://www.strengthofscience.com/pacey-performance-podcast/pacey-performance-podcast-213-eric-renaghan/ https://continuefit.com/strength-coach-podcast-episode-273-mma-supertrainer-lawrence-herrera-from-the-performance-ranch/ http://vigorgroundfitness.com/ep098-lessons-in-coaching-program-design-and-athlete-development-from-25-years-in-strength-and-conditioning-w-chris-tombs/ Book of the … Continue reading S&C Week in Review: 2/23

One of my biggest “duh” moments at the @bodybyboyle Winter seminar this past weekend was when Coach Boyle was speaking about max effort sprinting. Max effort sprinting has a ton of benefits. It develops acceleration and speed — and every single athlete will benefit from more speed. It’s true velocity training — nothing we do … Continue reading A New Big Reason to Sprint Consistently?

An overview of all of our contrast work we’ve done in the last couple years. Upper body pulling and pressing as well as both unilateral and bilateral lower body work. Most of the time we perform contrast work on Wednesday’s before our Friday/Saturday’s games as a way to move a little faster and try to … Continue reading An Overview of Our Contrast Training

Here is a simple but extremely challenging combo exercise that we use as an upper body pressing movement, especially during the in-season period and spring practice period when shoulders tend to get worked a little more via volleyball. Shoulder friendly pressingCore stabilityShoulder stabilityCrossing the midline As I’ve said before, we use the tennis ball as … Continue reading Exercises You Should Be Doing: Lateral Crawl with Push Up